changing role + teacher/scholar

*Due to amount of information and range of articles / this post is episodic
 

New media scholarship vs. scholarship about new media

The Knowledges Foundation and the Institute for the Future’s “Map of Future Forces Affecting Education” is a great case study for discussion of “new media scholarship” vs. “scholarship about new media” as presented by Ball. In “Show and not tell: The value of new media scholarship” Ball writes,

Composition and new media scholars write about how readers can make meaning from images, typefaces, videos, animations, and sounds…but most scholars don’t compose with these media. It is evident from the scholarship available that compositionists are interested in new media. Yet, they do not seem to value creating new media texts for scholarly publications to explore the multimodal capabilities of new technologies. The linear tradition of composition scholars’ publications about new media techniques causes me to suggest that this type of scholarship should not be called new media scholarship but should, more accurately, be labeled scholarship about new media.

This statement has relevance not only for compositionists but for communication scholars and especially our program. We’ve discussed in other Communication, Rhetoric & Digital Media classes how people often think that we are experts at creating digital media when they hear the title of our program and we often disappoint when we reveal that’s not necessarily the case. Furthermore, just like Ball discusses most of us write in a linear fashion and don’t compose our research via new media. However, I am still on the fence about whether delivering research results through new media methods is such a desirable thing. Here is where the “map of future forces” delivers a good example. Though the map is filled with interesting information, maybe more than a typical research article, it is very frustrating to read. As a person who likes to see authors present information spatially I thought that I would really enjoy the map but my first instinct was to stretch it out so I could see all the relationships and the overall picture. This map did not allow a full view but forced the reader to focus on a specific section. Argh! I couldn’t figure out if there were more problems below or to the right until I had clicked on something else. Also, when a box was clicked on in order to read the corresponding text, the box would shift up or down making it difficult to follow once you had begun to read. Graphically, the map seemed very sophisticated but really it was too much of a reflective cognitive exercise than an experiential cognitive exercise–what most maps try to achieve. In this instance, a nice linear argument, outline or set of bullet points may have made the information easier to digest. So – maybe the reason scholars don’t seem to value creating new media texts for scholarly publications is not due to lack of creativity but because people are used to reading texts a certain way and a linear format makes the task easier for the reader. Notice that most popular new media texts do not have the detail or depth of a typical research article and so the content fits more easily with a hyperactive text.

Even so, I do think it is important for CRDM scholars to be knowledgeable of basic practices for creating new media texts so that they could partake in and evaluate the composition of new media texts–maybe even a focus in one specific type of digital media would be more manageable – i.e. graphic design, film, podcasts, etc. The map of future forces could have been a lot more user friendly with the input of someone with usability expertise and ethnographic observation.

Other thoughts on future forces

“The human herd”

“With the population density increasing dramatically, environmental crises looming, and a more interconnected global society that buffers population less, there are increasing signs that the human herd is not healthy. What role might education play in addressing health problems?“

Yowza! This is one of the many problems that I personally find as an educator overwhelming. But how could I not with the way this problem is summarized. Somehow when I think of the “human herd” not “being healthy” my first thought is not pedagogy but paralysis. How can we think of solutions with these devastating problems looming? I think this type of rhetoric is not the way to approach these  dilemmas with students but with an outlook of hope (even if there isn’t any). An issue is a lot easier to tackle if students can envision some progress. 

“From physical versus digital to seamlessly physical and digital”

“The end of distinction between cyberspace and real space. What opportunities do newly animated, responsive environments and immersive media present to urban schools and communities?
I think it’s interesting that this statement began with an equally dramatic statement as the “human herd” but then ended with an optimistic question about opportunities. Couldn’t there be an equally devastating question about what detriment the end of this distinction will mean to urban schools and communities? 

The job search

Kimmea Hea (2004) points out the need for some “faculty (perhaps those determining tenure and initiating reviews) to understand the work of computer compositionists as more than practical technological implementation or skill development.” Hea says that even though computer compositionists are often designated a “hot commodity” that they are also misinterpreted as being primarily skills based. Here again this relates back to the issue of “scholarship about new media”. Really the ideal job candidate appears to be a person who studies new media but can also compose well in new media. Again, something our program should consider since Hea also point out that “It is important for graduate students wanting a career in computers and composition to know that they might have to advocate for their own work and careers in our field” and that “he more we understand the range of work within our field, the better able we will be to engage that work and one another”. That does seem to be the strength of the CRDM program the possibility of filling a range of different roles (also appears to be the case with the current job candidates from what I’ve heard about the jobs they’ve been applying for). 

CCCC Position Statement

“Promotion and Tenure Guidelines for Work with Technology” / Work with technology is very time-consuming. People who work with technology in the classroom must spend a portion of their time learning and teaching new software to students and possibly colleagues”
I posted this quote because we come back to it almost every class and here it is distinctly acknowledged. When planning course assignment I think we remember how time consuming technology can be but I think we dismiss sometimes the time it takes to compose in many forms of new media when it comes to scholarship.